Coconut macaroons are the quintessential passover dessert! Not to be confused with the French-style pastry made with almond meal, coconut macaroons are baked with shredded coconut, beaten egg whites, and sweetened condensed milk. They’re naturally gluten-free which makes them kosher for passover.
My coconut macaroons are perfectly moist and covered with melted chocolate. I like to add almond extract to the batter, making these sweet treats a delicious hybrid between the Jewish-style and French-style pastries. My secret ingredient is candied ginger. It gives these macaroons a little kick. The seder table wouldn’t be complete without a plate of my homemade macaroons.
Print Recipe
Passover Macaroons
Servings: 12 pieces
Ingredients
- 2 egg whites at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- Salt
- 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- ½ cup unblanched sliced almonds roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped candied ginger optional
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips optional, for dipping
Instructions
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325°F.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk them at a low speed until foamy, then increase the speed to medium. Once the egg whites have soft peaks, add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Increase the speed to high and beat until they have reached stiff peaks.
- While the egg whites are beating, mix together the coconut, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla (or almond) extract in a medium-sized bowl. The sweetened condensed milk may be difficult to mix in with a spatula, so I recommend using your hands to make sure it’s evenly mixed in. At this point you can mix in the almonds and ginger if choosing to add them.
- Take ¼ of the egg white mixture and stir it into the coconut mixture. Then take ½ of the remaining egg whites and gently fold them into the coconut mixture. Repeat with the second half until all folded in.
- Take a cookie scoop, about an 1 ½ in diameter, and scoop the coconut mixture onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, making sure not to overload the scooper by scraping the excess off with the palm of your hand. Space the macaroons in even rows on the parchment, leaving at least an inch between each one.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, then take out of the oven at let cool completely before removing them from the sheet pan. The macaroons will last 3 days in the pantry, about 2 weeks in the refrigerator, and a year in the freezer stored in an airtight container.
- Place the chocolate in a bowl on top of a double-boiler over medium-low heat. Melt completely, stirring every so often. Take each macaroon holding the rounded top half, and dip the straight bottom half into the chocolate. You can also drizzle some leftover chocolate on top of each. Place each macaroon on a parchment lined baking sheet and let harden completely. Store airtight at room temperature.
